On the outskirts of Masterton, where industrial lots meet farmland, you'll find a cluster of sheds decorated with bunting, neat rows of vegetables marked by whimsical signs, a mound of rotting sheep dags turned into rich growing matter and a toddler with his own little set of gardening tools.
You'll also find the toddler's mum Alexandra Morrissey and her best friend Victoria Sala with their hands in the soil.
They're the duo behind Little Farms NZ - a veggie box and microgreens business that started out as a "gossipy garden session on a Sunday afternoon".
Alex and Victoria met five years ago while working on a large organic farm and started spending Sunday afternoons gardening together.
Two years ago, the friends started their market garden on the smell of an oily rag, with a small plot of land rented from Victoria's parents and material scrounged from skips and op shops.
"We didn't put any money into this venture we just put signs up around town, saying we'll take your green waste, we'll come and collect your cardboard," Victoria says.
"We were jumping in dumpster bins trying to collect as many resources as we could for free."
Cardboard is collected alongside sheep dags and other organic waste for the no-dig garden beds Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Alex and Victoria use the no-dig method, building up the vegetable beds out of a lasagne of cardboard, sheep dags, coffee grounds and any other organic waste they can lay their hands on.
"We haven't turned over the soil, tilled it or dug it in any way," Alex says.
"We literally started with the grass and our hard clayish soil and we've just built soil on top of it.
"It's beautiful rich crumbly soil ... a gardener's dream."
Victoria Sala and Alexandra Morrissey Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Alex worked as a solicitor before making the switch to market gardening and she's surprised she made her dream job happen so quickly.
"It was always the thing that filled my cup and was so important and made me so happy."
When she's not working in a local cafe, Victoria can be found amid the stacks of trays brimming with green shoots in the greenhouse.
She had to look up how to grow microgreens on YouTube and is now supplying local restaurants.
Victoria's microgreens nearly ready for harvest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Alex and Victoria also give no-dig workshops each month to help finance their venture which has grown from strength to strength, especially with the desire for fresh vegetables delivered to the door during the pandemic.
Victoria, Alex and Alex's son Dezzie Photo: Supplied
"It's quite empowering to feel like you plant a seed, you see it grow, you harvest it, you eat it.
"That whole cycle makes you feel very connected to what you're doing and very purposeful."
They have partnered with other local producers to ensure they can fill the veggie boxes every week and have branched out into providing locally-produced pantry items like honey and hummus.
Their social media know-how has helped get the produce to market but there have been a few setbacks, like chickens eating the whole crop and the notorious Wairarapa wind blowing away their tunnel house.
"It looks probably like rainbows and sunshine but there's definitely been a few tears," Alex says.
Dezzie has his own little set of gardening tools Photo: Supplied
